


You Octopi My Heart

by VeriLee



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Aquarousal, F/M, He's Not What She Expects, Human Rey, Human/Monster Romance, Interspecies Romance, Little Bit of Anal Play Cause What Are Those Extra Limbs For Amiright?, Rey Meets Her Soulmate, Reylo - Freeform, Sea Monsters, Soulmates, TentaKylo, Tentacle Sex, Tentacles, That Lovely Tag Courtesy Of My Phone Calling Me Out, The Belonging She Seeks Isn't Behind Her...It's Under The Water, Though Not Very Explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-12 20:28:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeriLee/pseuds/VeriLee
Summary: Rey had resigned herself to the fact that she would never have a soulmate.She had a soulmark, yes, but there was something…wrongabout it.Every person was marked where their soulmate would eventually touch them, skin-to-skin, for the first time.  But where other people had handprints and fingertip smudges, Rey's mark was more perplexing. Spanning her arm from her wrist to above her elbow was a large coil of small, perfect, black circles.---A Reylo Soulmates AU with Tentacles





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

Rey had resigned herself to the fact that she would never have a soulmate.

She had a soulmark, yes, but there was something… _wrong_ about it.

Every person was marked where their soulmate would eventually touch them, skin-to-skin, for the first time. Hand prints were very common, especially on the palm – a complete hand print where one person might high-five another, or the slightly blurred imprint that came from shaking hands. But also on wrists or shoulders, where people could perhaps expect to receive a pat from their soulmate one day. Sometimes it was just a smudge on an arm where someone would eventually bump into their would-be lover in a crowded hall or on the street. Less common were footprints, but some people did meet their soulmates barefoot, maybe at the pool or a park, and a stepped-on toe would lead to love.

Each person was born with some mark or another – dark and shiny as obsidian and just as smooth to the touch. When two soulmates touched? It would transform into a brilliant, almost blinding shimmer of gold.

It was a game among children on the schoolyard, to examine their marks and guess how and when they’d meet their _One_. As they grew into teenagers, many tried to seek out their soulmates, finding an excuse to initiate a touch between themselves and their crush, their eyes drooping when, far more often than not, the mark remained dark as oil. By adulthood, it lapsed into conversation fodder as some people dated or married despite incompatible marks, and others continued to seek out their soulmates.

But Rey had never, ever met anyone with quite the mark she had. Sure, some people had to look hard for their soulmarks, before finding a singular fingerprint or an irregular blotch from being elbowed.

Not being able to find her soulmark was not a problem that Rey had - hers was as massive as it was confusing. Spanning her arm from her wrist to above her elbow was a large coil of small, perfect, black circles. It was as if someone had rolled her arm across a pile of ink-covered Cheerios – ink that would never fade away.

It hadn’t taken long for her schoolmates to start calling her a freak. While other kids wondered if they might meet their soulmate playing “Miss Mary Mack,” Rey was left to wonder how on earth her soulmate could trace dozens of circles into her skin all at once, and then forced to conclude (with more than a little input from mean-spirited classmates) that she was destined to be mateless.

Rey wasn’t vain, but she knew, in an objective sort of way, that she was attractive. She wasn’t especially curvy and sometimes lamented her small chest or angular figure, but she was fit and had a pleasant smile, and she knew her hazel eyes were considered pretty. But none of these facts were much of a comfort when the one feature she cared most about was the one that brought her pain and embarrassment.

Her mark was an anomaly, pure and simple. She had no mate and would never have one, so the genetic code responsible for etching soulmarks had essentially short-circuited in Rey’s case, and manifested its malfunction into the unusual, erratic pattern spanning her arm. This hypothesis came courtesy of a boyfriend she’d dated right out of high school, a guy who claimed to reject such a primitive custom as merely an indicator of optimal reproductive compatibility, and wholly unnecessary in the modern day and age – until, of course, he met his soulmate in a bookstore.

“I know it’s sudden, and I never planned to play into this whole game,” he’d said as he apologetically showed Rey his newly golden palm, “but it’s not just about me, is it? I owe it to her to give this a shot, don’t I?”

He’d continued to insist that if it didn’t work out, he’d be in touch. But Rey saw the look in his eyes and knew he wouldn’t be back. Most of Rey’s relationships ended in similar ways, although a few of her partners were upfront about just having fun until they met their soulmate.

It made sense in a twisted way, she’d mused bitterly more than once over the years. Her own parents couldn’t even love her – abandoning her outside of a fire station at the ripe old age of 10 months – so why would the universe send someone else to love her?

 

* * *

 

Unkar Plutt was an awkward lump of a man. He had the appearance of a pillow that had first been overstuffed, and then run through the wash until it lost its original shape. Rey might have felt a twinge of guilt for her judgmental opinion if he wasn’t also mean and grumpy and a pretty shitty boss. But at least he was mean to everyone, not just Rey. Working on his crabbing boat was hard work but it had its perks.

One, she kept busy enough that the days passed by without much time for her to long for what she didn’t have.

Two, she was one of only three employees working for Plutt, and neither Devi nor Strunk were any more keen on small talk than she was.

And three, it was cool and breezy enough out on the water that, even when the sun was shining, nobody questioned her wearing long sleeves every day. Rey had learned at a young age that it was easier to hide her botched soulmark from people, rather than entertain questions about it, or worse, listen to insults about it.

It was far from her life’s passion, but Rey figured she would accept the hard work and monotony in exchange for a bit of peace. Little did she know the universe did indeed have other plans for her.

The monotonous routine of her daily life began to shift on a day that was windier than most, but otherwise much like any other. Up before dawn and down to the docks, Rey dozed just a little as Plutt navigated the boat out to the spot they’d be starting at, and then it was time to bait and drop the wire trap baskets. In between checking the traps, she, Devi, and Strunk cleaned and repaired additional cages, tracked inventory, and cleaned the boat. When they pulled up full traps, they sorted debris and seaweed from the crabs and tossed back the occasional fish or other unintended captives. From time to time, they glanced to the sky and Plutt consulted the weather app on the boat’s computer system, but although the sky was slightly overcast, no major storm appeared to be moving in. Business as usual.

“Want some?” Devi asked, holding out a bag of pretzels when the crew members crowded into the galley for a quick lunch. She always offered, out of habit it seemed, though Rey always declined, instead choosing to sit a little distance away from the other two. She’d virtually inhale her egg salad sandwich in record time, before escaping back above deck to the open – if salty tasting – air.

Devi and Strunk were mated – Devi’s right palm was gold and Strunk’s shoulder bore her matching, shimmery handprint. Though they weren’t an especially affectionate couple in public, cooing over each other or making a show of their relationship like some soulmate pairs did, they’d meet each other’s eyes from time to time and share a content smile. The quiet intimacy of the simple exchange made Rey squirm.

“Girl!” Plutt hollered when he saw Rey taking a moment to stand by the starboard rail and just stare out at the open ocean. “No dawdling! Traps 10-15 need resetting!”

Rey sighed and turned headed towards the baskets. The wind whipped wildly around her head, pulling strands of hair out from her already messy bun as she tugged her jacket a little tighter and began to pull the first trap.

It wouldn’t budge.

Rey frowned and tugged harder on the pulley, assuming there must be a kink in the chain, but to no avail.

“Unkar?” she called out, looking over her shoulder, hoping to catch his attention and let him fix whatever had gone wrong. But the captain had ambled around to the other side of the boat and, between the wind and the distance, her voice died away before it could reach him.

Rey heaved another sigh and leaned over the railing, further than she knew she should, to see if the chain had caught on something, or whether it had twisted. She gave it a sharp tug just as a particularly powerful gust of wind swept across the surface of the water. The boat was sturdy and had a low profile so it swayed only a little, but the young woman leaning precariously over its edge was easily knocked off-balance by the rocking motion.

Rey didn’t even have time to scream before her body made contact with the piercing cold water, rapidly disappearing beneath it.

She snapped her mouth shut, but not before sucking in a gulp of salty seawater, kicking and flailing as she tried to make her way back to the surface. Her jacket caught on the stupid, wretched chain that been the source of this problem, trapping her in place. Irritation won out over fear for a brief moment as she wrestled herself out of the garment, inwardly cursing both jacket and crab trap.

Unfortunately, when she pulled herself free from the coat with an emphatic twist of her body, she also jerked herself away from the chain – the only lifeline back to the surface. Despite reaching her arms out in every direction, her grasp remained empty. She was a decent swimmer, but the painfully cold water and the rollicking motion of the waves disoriented her; she couldn't sense which way to go.

Despite the sting, she opened her eyes, squinting through the murky water for the chain, or a glimmer of light from the surface, anything to help her find her bearings.

Instead, her gaze locked onto a pair of dark eyes that looked startlingly human. And, judging by the way they were set just above a prominent nose and a pair of plush lips, in a face framed by charcoal-colored locks which danced along with the waves of the sea, they _were_ human eyes.

Which made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Before Rey could ponder too long, the mouth opened and said, as clear as if above water, “Don’t be afraid.”

Before she could react to that perplexing addition to the situation, however, something cool and rubbery wrapped around her left arm, then her waist, and suddenly she was being propelled upward in a rush until, at last, she broke the surface of the water and her burning lungs were able to gulp down mouthfuls of fresh air once again.

She had only a moment to glance at her mysterious savior in the full light of the day, as he – she thought it _seemed_ like a he anyway – had heaved her up and over the edge of the boat.  But, rather than finding clarity, her bewilderment only grew. The human-looking head was attached to a _very muscular_ human-like chest with human arms. But the force that had tossed her back into the boat with such ease had come from his _lower_ half – which, despite the fact that it seemed utterly _impossible_ , appeared to be that of a massive squid or octopus. Rey managed to catch a quick glimpse before he disappeared, and it looked like the end of his torso transitioned into a mass of tentacles: thick, heavy, and dark as night with vibrant purple undersides.

And then he was gone, and the surface of the water, while choppy, wasn’t broken by his form again. Rey blinked furiously as she tried to process what had happened. She looked around – Devi and Strunk hadn’t emerged from below deck and there was no sign of Plutt. The whole ordeal must have taken three minutes, tops, and no one had even had the chance to notice yet.

“I must have climbed up the chain,” Rey said out loud, to no one but herself, trying to convince herself that what had just happened could _not_ have happened.

But then, the sun cut through the clouds and Rey caught an unusual reflection out of the corner of her eye. Her gaze slowly turned towards her arm, which was now covered in dozens of shimmery, shiny gold circles, casting rainbows into the air as the rays of the sun bounced off of them like light through a prism.

Rey’s soulmark had been transformed.

               

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I saw a post about Soulmates and "first touch" marks cross my tumblr dash right after a post with a tentacle Reylo fic and thought, "Why not both?" :) 
> 
> All four chapters are written, just being edited, so posting will be frequent - I'm thinking a week or less between updates but I just want to deliver the best final product that I can! :) Just a short thing, but I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it! :) 
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful beta @colliderofhadron!


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

Rey hadn't had long to ponder what it meant - she'd been soulmarked by some… some _octopus_ man who shouldn't,  couldn't, who _must_ _not_ exist!

Unkar’s plodding footsteps had eventually broken her out of her astounded reverie. Grabbing the nearest cloth she could find in her panic - a foul-smelling towel that had last been used to clean God knows what from a nearby bucket of junk,  she had wrapped it around herself in a frantic rush to hide her arm, before fleeing below deck to search for a better solution. She'd dried off as well as she could and bundled herself up in some old coveralls and a former crewmate's forgotten windbreaker.

For their parts, Devi and Strunk had seemed worried for Rey, who’d insisted that she’d scaled the chain like a rope to haul herself back aboard. In fact, she’d repeated the excuse until she had started to believe it herself but, now, she just shrugged them off and forced herself to get through the rest of the shift. Rey was never known to be lazy but she’d rarely worked as hard as she did that afternoon, as she was so intent on filling her mind with anything other than what had happened earlier.

However, once she arrived home, captive in the empty, quiet solitude of her dingy apartment, she could no longer ignore the reality of her arm. She showered off the scent of crabs and bait and saltwater, but the gold circles couldn't be scrubbed away.

Rey slumped to the floor in her narrow shower stall, allowing the water to run down her body as she valiantly fought the urge to cry, and the tiny rivulets obscured her vision as effectively as tears until the soulmark became nothing but a blur.

Who had ever heard of being soulmated to some sea monster thing? No one, that's who. Rey had waited so long for someone to love her - first family, then lovers - and had been left disappointed every time. Not content with just letting her give up, the universe had seen fit to double down and curse her with… _this_. She realized she'd have to be even more diligent about keeping her arm covered from now on; if there was anything worse than hearing comments about her dark soulmark, fielding questions about its new iridescence would be it.

Rey sat on the tile floor until the water cooled, trying, and failing, to fixate her mind on any other subject.

 

* * *

 

For three days, Rey went through the motions. Awake and down to the docks before dawn, dinner for one in front of a second-hand TV, and early to bed so she could get ready to start over the next day. If she avoided looking down at her own arm, she could almost convince herself that the… _incident_ had been the product of an imagination run wild.

_Almost_.

She'd be lying if she said the lingering image of those eyes - deep and dark and as sad as her own - hadn't haunted her memory as much as the mark did.

On the fourth day, the creature showed up while Rey was alone on deck, immediately squashing any pretense he didn't exist. Rey had been in the middle of checking the wire cages when two hands - and two tentacles - reached over the edge of the boat, lifting the octopus-man-thing into view and causing Rey to let loose a string of curses.

Unperturbed by her shocked outburst, the creature merely folded his arms over the edge of the boat and rested there, offering Rey a light smile that didn't quite match the intense focus in his eyes.

"My mate," he said by way of greeting, in perfect English, as if he was some business tycoon commenting on the weather at a cocktail party, and not a confusing half-man, half-sea creature that her rational mind refused to believe even existed.

Rey looked around for her coworkers before allowing herself to acknowledge him, and hissed, "We are not soulmates! We aren't even the same species!"

The man-octopus-thing seemed unruffled by Rey's reaction to him. In response, he simply raised one tentacle and waved it like a hand and Rey gasped audibly.

The tentacle was black and purple like the others, but the little suckers on the underside were the same shimmery gold as the circles on Rey's left arm, glinting in what little light filtered through the haze of the early morning fog. Maybe she could have – should have, even – guessed, had she allowed her mind to imagine, but she'd spent the past few days explicitly trying _not_ to process what she’d experienced.

In spite of herself, Rey felt a tiny fluttering inside. To see someone marked with _her_ was a strange and powerful thing and somehow, the visual proof that someone else was in this mess with her made her feel a tiny bit less afraid. Maybe he was even considered a freak among his kind. After all, what kind of… _whatever_ he was...found themselves mated to a human?

And it wasn’t as if he wasn’t attractive. His features – a large nose, striking eyes, ears that stuck out a bit – individually each seemed like too much, too strong, yet somehow all worked together.

But…

That still didn't change the fact that he was what he was, and she was what she was, and a week ago she hadn’t even known that something like him existed, so how in the world could they be mates?

Rey tried to return to her task, though admittedly her focus wasn’t entirely sharp. She began, with hands shaking just a bit, to turn the wheel on the pulley to bring up a trap, only for it to snag and stop in place. She sighed. Fate had a sense of irony, it seemed. It was the same kinked and twisted chain that had started this whole debacle.

The man reached low with one of his tentacles to tug on the chain, untwisting one of the troublesome spots, and suddenly it gave way, responding easily to Rey's efforts above.

"Thank you," she said, begrudgingly. She _did_ still have some manners, even when talking to the squid-thing that claimed to be her mate.

"Of course," he replied easily. "Now a favor from you. What is my soulmate's name?"

"How should I know?" Rey said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I assume she's out there somewhere. In the ocean. She's an octopus, like you, surely."

"I'm not an octopus," the man replied, indignant for the first time. When Rey opened her mouth to retort, he continued, "Nor am I a squid. Or merman.”

“What exactly are you then?” Rey finally asked, honestly curious.

“We simply are what we are. But I believe your kind use the term _cecaelia_.” He shrugged and looked over his shoulder at the open ocean. “Not that there are many of us left. My mother used to tell me old stories, legends of when the seas were filled with my kind. But now…” His voice trailed off, a whisper that carried away on the sea breeze, and Rey felt a pang in her chest. She knew that lonesome, longing tone well.

"And you're wrong," he said. He cleared his throat and shook his head after a few moments had passed, heaving himself further up the side of the boat with ease, as his strong tentacles curled around the rail to hold his weight.

Rey's eyes darted around, afraid of being caught by the others. Though more afraid for herself or for him, she wasn't sure. Before she could speak, he reached for her with one of his human hands this time, and pushed the sleeve of her baggy sweatshirt up as far as it would go, exposing the golden marks. The look in his eyes was almost reverent as he coiled the tentacle with the matching suckers around her arm again, matching up the markings perfectly like a puzzle that was finally complete.

"See?" he said, his voice more air than sound. " _Mine_."

Stars, when had his face gotten so close to hers? Her heart beat erratically, and despite the coldness of the water dripping on her, the skin that he touched felt electrified.

"Just because some cruel force out in the universe gave me this stupid tattoo," Rey choked out in a whisper.

"No. I can see it in your eyes. You've been waiting for me." He was _so_ close. Close enough to kiss, to share the same breath of air. "And I've been waiting for you."

He suddenly looked past Rey and then let go of her and the boat, sliding into the water with a splash. She felt surprisingly empty and cold.

Rey glanced behind at Devi walking by. She waited for her stealthy crewmate to vanish down the stairs then leaned over the edge of the boat and whispered to the dark water.

"Rey."

"What?" The man's head popped out from under the water.

"My name. It's Rey," she said again. She wasn't exactly sure why but she wanted to share that with him.

He smiled widely, and Rey couldn’t stop the feeling of warmth that spread through her, to be the recipient of such a brilliant smile. "I'm Kylo. Kylo Ren. Until next time, my mate."

Rey shook her head. She wasn't quite ready to concede that point. How on earth could a human being soulmated to an octopus, or a… a cecaelia, whatever that meant?

But when she returned home to her apartment that night, she most definitely didn’t suppress the memory of being marked. Instead, when she changed into her nightclothes, she left her arm – _her soulmark_ – uncovered, and she lay in the warm comfort of her bed, unable to think about anything other than him and that tentacle. She recalled its feel, remembering the rush of blood she’d experienced when he’d touched her and her breath shortened. Her mind drifted to the smoldering intensity of his gaze and wondered what his gentle, grasping tendrils could be capable of as her fingers snaked towards the heat between her legs, chasing a desire that could never quite be fulfilled. And it was as she recalled the low and possessive growl with which he claimed _"mine"_ that she finally fell over the edge.

 

* * *

 

Even if Rey had wanted to forget about her tentacled admirer, she couldn't. Kylo seemed to have radar for Plutt’s boat and found it, and her, daily. Wherever she ended up dropping the traps for the day, he always managed to make an appearance.

He peppered her with questions whenever she was alone, cautiously staying out of sight of the crew. It was nice, Rey had to admit, to talk to someone so interested in her. She sometimes found herself forgetting that he was an ocean creature and she was not.

He asked her about her childhood, growling with protective anger when she told him, in a forced, casual tone, about her parents. Somehow, the things that she’d always kept tucked close to her chest poured freely when talking to Kylo - the memories that brought her pain or, far less frequently, the good things she held onto to get through the bad. Part of her knew that he couldn’t exactly spill her secrets to anyone, from his home among the waves, but there was something else too. She trusted him.

He seemed to trust her as well, telling her stories of his own life, vastly different from her own, but no less lonely. What little family he once had had been gone for years, and there were only a few others of his kind left; those that he had encountered had been twisted, angry beings and so he’d chosen to roam the seas, keeping to himself. While his species was not immortal, they lived for long periods of time, and his solitary travels had spanned decades.

He’d picked up English, and a few other languages, by watching and listening to humans. Like her, he had witnessed other soulmate pairs meeting and falling in love; but over time had grown convinced that the oceans were too wide, and his people too few for him to meet his own mate.

“I didn’t know I should have been watching the shoreline,” Kylo said with a playful smile, from where he clung to the side of the boat.

Rey returned the grin, but accompanied it with a little shake of her head, pointing out, as she often did, “You still live in the water, and I still have to breathe air.”

“Live by the sea, then. On the beach,” he suggested.

“Ah, yes. On the wonderful salary I bring home from catching crabs, I’ll buy some oceanfront property!” Rey replied with a sharp laugh. “It may not occur to you, but up here, things operate on a monetary basis.”

“I just want my mate nearby,” Kylo said, his voice dropping to the low, rumbly growl that caused her stomach to swoop, even if she never admitted so to him.

Taking a breath to refocus herself, Rey glanced at her watch. ‘We’re going to be pulling up the last of the traps and heading in soon,” she told him.

In response, Kylo brought a tentacle up to Rey’s arm, wrapping it tenderly around her wrist. Every day, without fail, he would ask to see her mark again before vanishing back into the water and Rey found herself complying, casting a cautious glance over her shoulder before shrugging out of her jacket or pushing up her sleeve. It wasn’t long before he stopped using words to make his request.

He would trace the mark, sometimes with the tip of one of his tentacles, and sometimes with his fingers, with a look of contentment and desire that sent shivers up and down her spine. Kylo hadn't yet attempted to kiss her, but somehow this ritual felt much more intimate.

As he traced the circles on her arm with one of his large but gentle hands, Rey reached out, for the first time, to return the gesture. She grasped the tentacle with his matching mark in her free hand, gently running her thumb over the gilded suckers. They weren't sticky like she might have expected, though they did have a certain cling to them, gripping her almost reflexively as she dragged her finger across the fleshy nubs.

"Rey," Kylo breathed with a shudder.

She looked up to meet his eyes, and her stomach flipped to see the intensity there, his pupils so dilated that she could barely see the warm brown she usually lost herself in.

_So they were sensitive then,_ she mused. _Good to know._

Delighting in how Kylo responded to her touch, Rey lifted her other hand to caress the golden-tipped tentacle with those fingers as well. A tiny, proud smile played across her lips when his grip on her forearm tightened and he exhaled a shaky breath.

Emboldened, Rey kept her eyes locked on Kylo’s as she brought the tentacle up to her lips and softly kissed one of the gold cups, a feather-light touch that nonetheless set both their hearts racing.

Another tentacle coiled tightly around Rey's waist and Kylo’s hand shot up to cup her face. "I should drag you overboard with me right now," he growled, leaning close to her ear and causing her to shiver with anticipation.

"I wouldn't want the others to send out a search party," she managed to force out. "But..." Rey hesitated. She had grown to appreciate, even anticipate, Kylo's visits but it was the first time she had _voiced_ her eagerness for his return. “...You'll come back tomorrow, right?"

"Every day," he confirmed in a low voice. He turned his head and finally closed the distance between them, the pressure of his lips on hers warm and intense, as his thumb continued to rub circles against her marked arm.

Rey shivered at the sensation, letting out a small contented hum.

"Until you come with me," he whispered against her mouth.

Rey blinked and pulled back. The desire, spoken so easily and so plainly, but yet so frustratingly unattainable, reminded her of the reality of their situation. "I still don't see how that can work," she said, as she had many times before, though her voice no longer held simple incredulity, only regret.

Kylo coiled his tentacle around her left arm once again, lining up their marks. "Somehow," he promised.

And then as heavy footsteps lumbered up the stairs from below deck, he untwisted himself from her and slipped back into the water with a splash.

 

* * *

 

As Kylo's daily visits continued, they became the highlight of Rey's day, rather than a mere perk. He’d find Plutt's boat with ease or, with increasing regularity, meet her at the docks and follow the vessel out to sea, which made the trudge to the boat in the predawn hours more bearable.

Rey was concerned that he might be getting reckless, showing up in more populated areas, but at the same time, the selfish part of her enjoyed his company too much to work very hard at dissuading him. On the contrary, she even started wearing shirts that, while still covering her soulmark from the world, were easier to move out of the way, to expose herself to him, with baggy sleeves or stretchy material that didn’t fight when she pushed it up past her elbow. And following her lead, he too now ended their conversations with a soft, yet electric kiss to her mark.

No. To _their_ mark. It was shared between them.

Rey wasn't exactly sure what the future could hold, and she tended to avoid thinking too hard about it, focusing, instead, on the moments she _did_ have, as best as she was able. There was no denying the fact that something had been kindled inside of her – the change was noticeable even to others.

She had caught Devi glancing over at her several times over the previous week or so but, in her true form, her colleague had remained quiet about it for the most part until commenting on Rey’s obvious happiness one evening, when they were all lumbering off the boat.

Rey only shrugged, resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder and peek for Kylo's form hiding among the gentle waves.  He'd departed only recently, and she was probably still carrying a blush on her cheeks from the way he'd kissed her until her head spun, her lips very likely swollen from his nibbles.

 Devi's stare held something deep and undecipherable as she studied Rey’s face. If anyone had caught on to the secret, it _would_ be Devi, who moved around as quiet as a mouse. But there was no malice or disgust in her eyes - if she did suspect, or know, she certainly wasn't dangling it over Rey’s head. Still, Rey wasn't going to volunteer any extra information.

"I guess I am happier lately," she conceded with a slight shrug. It was an honest statement, but she didn't expound any further.

"I'm glad," Devi replied and, with a slight nod, she turned and followed her mate to their truck. Rey hopped on her bike and rode back to her apartment, a place that had always been only functional at best, but somehow still felt less like home every day.

She should have known that her contentment was too good too last.

If she hadn't been so caught up in her blossoming relationship, she might have noticed the signs. An increase in activity and a flurry of unfamiliar faces, aside from the regular fishers and crabbers. And a particularly garish yacht - bright, ketchup-red with gaudy gold trim - that one might expect to see at the marina near the boardwalk, not the rocky beach that the working boats launched from daily.

She might have warned Kylo to be more cautious, or even stay away for a week or two. But she didn't pay close enough attention until it was too late.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so flattered by the response to this little story! I'm glad to _sea_ you're having fun reading it and I hope you continue to come back for _moray_! ;)
> 
> On another note, I realize I may have been unclear about the update schedule. When I said "frequent" posting, I meant I would be posting within a week. For me that is frequent, lol. So I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression. :) It is already written - I mentioned that because I didn't want there to be any concern about it being abandoned - but the editing and beta'ing is still in process. :) Speaking of which, thank you so much @colliderofhadron for all your tremendous help! :)


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

Rey locked up her bike. Even the endless grey skies and Pacific Northwest’s morning fog failed to dim her mood as she headed for Plutt's grimy old boat, walking with lighter steps than she had in the previous months of drudgery.

Aside from Unkar, who had made his home on the boat, she was the first one onboard.  The deck was empty; he was likely still down in the galley, rousing himself with strong coffee.

Rey had been making an effort to show up earlier and earlier in recent weeks, not because she felt the need to prove her strong work ethic, but in case she might steal a few moments with Kylo before the sun began its crawl over the horizon, ahead of Plutt’s tiresome bustling. There was also less chance of other fishers and crabbers seeing Kylo clinging to the side of Plutt’s boat.

Rey sauntered to the far end of the deck, as far as possible from the bright illumination of the lampposts fringing the dock, choosing to stay safely blanketed within the shadows instead.  Leaning against the rail as she ate her breakfast bagel, it wasn't long before Kylo broke through the surface of the dark water to greet her with a smile.

"Good morning, Mate."

He reached up with a couple of his thick, heavy limbs, and pulled himself up the side of the boat. Upon seeing Rey's convenience store breakfast sandwich, he made a disapproving face.

"I'm not forcing you to eat it," Rey said in mock defense, rolling her eyes at his expression before he could say anything.

"I can share something better with you," he said, unfurling one tentacle to reveal his own snack: an assortment of mussels and a few Dungeness crabs, the same ones that Plutt sold to the fish markets.

Their shared breakfasts had become a habit in the last few days, and Kylo always had a teasing comment ready regarding Rey's food choices - he clearly wasn't a fan of the dense carbs and processed meat she picked up with her morning coffee.

"I eat my seafood cooked," Rey said, laughing, "or at least cleaned! Food poisoning isn't pretty." 

"Tastes fine to me," Kylo returned with a shrug. "I know humans eat raw shellfish; I've seen them."

"Yes, but we have to be careful about prepping it right. You don't have to worry as much as we do."

Rey smiled playfully as she spoke, but a little part inside of her couldn't help reflect with sadness that it was yet another difference that set them apart.

They were finishing their breakfasts in relative quiet, still in the process of waking up for the day, when the boat started to creak with hefty footsteps, coming from the bottom of the stairs.

"You'd better go," Rey said, dusting a few stray crumbs from her hands. 

With a hasty glance toward the archway leading below deck, Kylo curled the end of one tentacle around the back of her neck, tilting her face to his and pressing a quick, hard kiss to her mouth. Rey realized she should step back and let him duck back into the waves - after all, she knew he would follow the boat out to the open waters and they would steal little moments throughout the day. _That_ would be the sensible thing to do.

But, instead, she leaned into his touch, snaking her fingers into his damp hair and holding him tightly to her. She let out a soft, breathy sigh, granting entrance to his tongue as he dragged it against the seam of her lips. With a slight growl, he wrapped an arm around her waist, toying at the hem of her shirt... and the importance of getting out of sight was quickly forgotten.

The thud of Plutt's heavy feet landing on the last step jolted them back to reality. His boots knocked against a pile of wire baskets with an almighty clatter and, with a regretful sigh, they finally parted. Kylo reluctantly slid soundlessly back into the water below.

Rey hastened to look busy, setting up traps as Unkar meandered along the deck towards her with narrowed eyes. "Just because you show up early doesn't mean I'm paying you any extra, you know," he grumbled. "I didn't approve extending your hours; this is your own time."

Rey only nodded. Her heart was still racing from the thrill of kissing Kylo, or nearly being caught. Or maybe a little of both.

She didn't trust herself to speak.

 

* * *

 

It was less than an hour before the ‘nearly’ modifier was dropped from ‘caught.’

After Devi and Strunk arrived, Unkar had lifted anchor and they set off. The boat had barely left the dock when the commotion caught Rey’s attention, as well as everyone else’s within a five-hundred yard radius. A cacophony of shouts and clanging of chains filled the air, rising above the sound of waves and seagulls.

Rey turned around to see a tacky red boat, one she had vaguely noticed earlier - she had not given it much thought other than observing its garish color contrasting against the somber, muted sky.  But a small, strangled gasp escaped her throat as she witnessed Kylo being hauled on board, his tentacles flailing and curling as he strained against a wire net. She watched in horror as it tightened around him, cutting angry red marks into his skin, and her eyes met his for the briefest of moments. Even from this distance, she could see his panic, but their terrified exchange of glances was cut short - he vanished as he was lowered into a dark, metal crate.  On the deck of the yacht stood a man with a shock of orange hair, wearing a smirk of both victory and disgust as he oversaw the proceedings.

Rey froze, rooted in place. She desperately wanted to dive right off of Plutt's vessel, swim across the bay and scale the side of that ugly red boat. To _tear_ her way into that ominous, tomb-like trap.

But the more rational part of her brain told her she would almost certainly be dragged off the ship by the security guards flanking the ginger-haired man, or perhaps even the police. A muscle in her leg twitched, poised to leap; she wasn't entirely sure the threat was enough to dissuade her. Before she could make a hasty – likely, _stupid_ \- decision, Devi was at her side, tugging at her elbow. She had sidled up, quiet as ever, and Rey had no clue how much of the scene she had witnessed.

"You can't do anything right now," Devi muttered so that only Rey could hear. "Get through today. I can help you figure something out later," she promised.

Rey turned to stare at her crewmate in complete surprise. Though she'd suspected once or twice that Devi had seen Kylo, the confirmation was startling to hear; more than that, she was caught off guard by the offer to help.

"Wh-? Help?" Rey stuttered incredulously as Devi gave a short nod. There was no bad blood between them, but they weren't exactly _pals_ either. "Why?" she finally asked.

Devi smiled softly and held out her right hand to reveal her own soulmark, shimmering even in the muted light of early morning. "I know what it's like," she said with a tiny shrug. 

Rey instinctively clutched her jacket around her, though her arm was well and truly covered. She looked over her shoulder - both Plutt and Strunk were at the other end of the boat, busy watching the red vessel with interest, unaware of how the incident was turning Rey's world upside down.

"How did you know about us?" she breathed. She thought she'd been careful about hiding her mark.

Again, Devi shrugged. "I only caught a glimpse of…. _him_ a couple times. But when you're soulmated, it's not just your mark that changes. I can see it in your eyes," she explained.

"Oh." It was almost unsettling, to have someone else recognize such a private part of her, this confounding... _thing,_ that she herself was still trying to understand. "Well, thanks for not saying anything," Rey replied, managing a tiny, grateful smile while her insides churned in fear for Kylo.

Getting through the day was easier said than done.

Rey knew she wasn't nearly as productive or quick as usual, which only brought Plutt's ire down on her more as he impatiently barked his orders and insults, without disguising his annoyance. But Devi proved a surprising companion and comfort, working close by her side, offering assistance and picking up her slack.

Most importantly of all, she apprised Rey on all she had ever heard about First Order Industries; the company whose CEO owned the unsightly red yacht. It was apparently some sort of sketchy research and development firm - private, but with several contracts with the US military. They had their fingers in several pies, including both traditional and biochemical weapons, as well as technology and AI research. They were notorious for shady business practices and human rights violations; it was rumored that they ran several programs that _skirted the law_ , to put it mildly, employing testing procedures that were much less ethical than they documented in their reports to the government.

Devi theorized that somebody must have caught a glimpse of Kylo, and word of the unusual creature had made its way up the ranks of the First Order. Rey felt sick, wondering exactly what sort of plans they had for him. Did they want to test their weapons on him? Try to use him to create a weapon? Rey could only rest her hope in the fact that surely, _surely_ , he was too rare to simply kill to analyze his corpse. Memories of dissecting frogs in high school biology flashed through her mind, causing her to shudder.

They'd want to observe him at least a little while, wouldn't they? See what useful secrets they could gain. That gave her a small window of time.

But _only_ a very small window.

That, and the fact that the yacht in the harbor clearly wasn't a research facility, were the only things that placated Rey's antsy nerves as the day crawled painfully by. The boat looked like something the CEO might use for weekend excursions, and Devi and Rey surmised that it was likely the closest watercraft they had at their disposal when they heard the rumors of Kylo's existence.

The two girls had quietly discussed the rampant rumors about the vile company and developed various possible plans of action until, exhausted by all the theorizing and plotting, Rey said, "When you said you’d help, what exactly do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, you could go to the authorities, petition a judge or something. There have been cases where soulmate status has been used to resolve messy divorces. There is no precedence for something quite like this, but it's an option." Even as Devi was speaking, she did not sound entirely convinced. Rey found herself shaking her head as she heard the hesitation in her new friend’s voice.

"No. They'll take him to one of their labs offshore, somewhere the US courts can't reach him," she argued back. She already knew there was only a limited time before they transported him somewhere else.

Devi nodded. "I think so, too. So the only other choice is," she lowered her already quiet voice to a whisper, "you break into the boat _tonight_. Free him before they have a chance to move him somewhere more secure."

"And you're going to help me? You'd be willing to take this risk?" Rey stared at Devi in disbelief. The two had conversed more today than they had throughout the entire eighteen months they'd been working together.

"As I said, I know what it's like to find your soulmate. And if something happened to Strunk," a hard tone crept into her usually mild voice, "I'd move _mountains_ to get him back."

Rey blinked, taken aback by Devi’s sudden ferocity - it was the most emotion she'd ever witnessed from the woman. But she knew Devi was right, and suddenly cursed herself for taking Kylo's visits for granted. Now she knew what it felt like to have someone care about her - _love_ her, though she hadn't put a name to the feeling before now. She couldn't go back to the emptiness she knew before, and couldn't leave Kylo to the same fate.

"That's it then," she confirmed. "I have to get on that boat tonight."

 

* * *

 

Getting onboard wasn't quite as difficult as Rey had imagined, much to her surprise - and apprehension. She kept expecting something to go wrong, anticipating a guard to appear out of nowhere. It was almost too easy.

But even with such a rare and precious cargo aboard, the boat itself wasn't designed with anywhere near the level of security she had imagined. She thought such top secret labs would be of a steel construction with high tech motion sensors, fingerprint entry keypads and round-the-clock hired thugs standing watch.

Rey met Devi at sunset and the two hid just inside a rickety structure that had once been a shed, observing the activity on the boat until they were sure it was safe. Rey didn't see the redhead from earlier - the man who appeared to have some sort of supervisor role - just a handful of security guards with FO logos on their polos and, even then, fewer than she expected.

Once they were convinced that there wasn't going to be a better time, Devi handed Rey a few tools she'd snuck from Plutt's boat earlier, keeping watch as Rey made her way from the dock onto the ship. Scaling the side of the slippery boat and dropping quietly onto the deck, Rey ducked out of sight of a handful of patrolling guards. But as she ventured deeper into the belly of the beast, she found fewer people in her way, as opposed to more, setting her every nerve on edge.

Her confusion only grew as she followed the sound of heavy thumping and clanking, to a room outfitted with red velvet walls and gaudy, shimmery gold curtains. She saw the heavy tank, recognizing it as the same box they’d shoved Kylo into that morning - a sleek, dark metal container, clamped shut with row upon row of steel loops and padlocks. The thrashing sound from within only confirmed it. There were a few small holes near the top, just big enough for the tip of one of Kylo's limbs to peek out, but not far enough to reach for the latches above.

It was exactly what she was looking for.

But what she _hadn't_ expected were the five unconscious First Order security guards she found, sprawled across the ugly shag carpet.

Making the best of the situation, and armed with the heavy-duty bolt cutters Devi had stolen from Plutt, she hurried towards Kylo's tank and quickly got to work. The thrashing sound from its confines ebbed as she severed the first two locks.

"It's me," she reassured.

It might have been the sloshing of water, but Rey could swear she heard his low voice breathe her name. Heart beating faster, this time in anticipation rather than fear, she hastened to cut the next row of latches, paying no attention to the guard nearest her, who was beginning to shift and groan slightly.

Finally, enough locks were displaced that Kylo was able to push the lid off, forcing the hinges back with an ear-piercing shriek. He heaved himself from the cramped box, leaning over the edge and pulling Rey close to him, desperate, almost roughly.

"Kylo!" Rey cried out, throwing her arms around him. Water sloshed over the edge, splashing her, but she didn't care. She pressed herself against the cold metal of the tank but, where Kylo's skin met hers, she was warm; his arms around her were _home_ , even here. Something caught in her throat as she noticed the cuts and scrapes marring his flesh, injuries from the wire netting they'd roped him up in earlier. Blinking as she tipped her face upward to kiss him, a slurred voice from suddenly caught her attention.

'What the hell?!"

Rey spun around, and Kylo looked over her shoulder to see a guard struggling to sit up. A perplexed expression flickered across the man’s face as he took in the scene in front of him

"Where'd you come from? How...?" The voice was heavy with sleep, slurring as though he were drugged. He was obviously confused, clearly having difficulty understanding the tableau in front of him. But, as one of First Order's paid guards, the realization that he had a job to do seemed to filter through his addled brain, leading him to reach for the gun at his waist.

"Hey!" he said, climbing to his feet, swaying a little as he swiped at Rey, to pull her away from Kylo's tank. "Hey you, get away from the freak!"

Rey saw red, and it had nothing to do with the room’s tacky color scheme. " _You_ get away!" she spat.

Without thinking of the consequences, Rey turned and leapt into action.  Panicked by the proximity of the guard's hand to his weapon, she snatched the bolt cutters from the floor and swung wide. The dense metal impacted heavily with his shoulder in a sickening crunch, sending him crashing back to the ground with an almighty thump.

She stood motionless, panting as the adrenaline rush started to subside, tensing in fear as she realized she might have actually killed a man. After a few terrifying seconds, she was relieved to see movement – the guard’s chest was rising and falling. He was breathing.

Behind her, Kylo didn't appear quite as disturbed by the event he'd witnessed. As she heard him heaving himself the rest of the way out of the tank, she turned back to face him, meeting eyes filled with awe and passion.

"Rey," he whispered reverently. "My Rey. I've never seen anything more beautiful."

"I couldn't... I couldn't let him…" Rey let her voice trail off as two hands came up to caress her arms, and another calming tentacle brushed her cheek. She didn't know exactly what she was trying to say. All she knew was that she didn't want anyone standing between them.

"You saved me," Kylo said in wonder.

"You saved me first," she returned, lifting her hand, laying it against the tentacle cupping her face.

And as she said it, she knew she wasn't only referring to the way they had met - how he'd freed her from the chains on Plutt's boat. And he didn't simply mean breaking open the tank. They had saved each other from loneliness, lives spent in longing and waiting.

Neither of them would ever have to be alone again.

Rey let her eyes flutter closed as she leaned into the soft touch of the tentacle she had now grown so used to. It was the one she possessively thought of as _her_ tentacle, the one covered with the golden marked suckers. Smiling, she turned her face to kiss it, wrapping her lips around one tiny, smooth sucker after another, reveling in the sound of the shaky breathing coming from Kylo.

 _Mine_ , she thought, as she kissed them, nibbled them, suckled them, one by one. _Mine, mine, mine_ , a chant running through her mind. Her tongue traced the little circles and Kylo let out a stuttering gasp, tightening his grip on her, drenching her clothes, but she couldn't care less.

When she curled her tongue around the tip of the tentacle, taking it into her mouth fully and humming at the saltwater taste of his skin, he groaned and pulled away, much to her disappointment.  Her damp skin shivered in the absence of Kylo's weighty tentacles, but didn't feel rejected - not when she saw just how wide his pupils had become.

" _Rey_ ," Kylo choked out in a gravelly voice, his tone stirring butterflies in her stomach and confirming that stopping her was the last thing he wanted to do. "We…we need to get out before any others wake up."

Rey nodded and, finally brought back to reality, she asked, "What _happened_ before I got here anyway?"

"I stung as many as I could when they brought me down here, and the ones that came close enough to the trap, when they came to check on me."

"You're poisonous?" Rey was surprised, but not afraid. She knew he wasn't a danger to her.

"Venomous, actually," he replied with a smirk. "Helps me catch my prey. But it's slow-acting on animals of their size," he said gesturing to the men and women sprawled on the ground. "And I only managed to sting a couple, before they locked me up. It's numbing, but it won't last forever, as you saw."

"Right," Rey replied with a slow nod. She still felt a little overwhelmed, but the pressing danger of the situation drove her back into action. "So we have to move quickly then," she agreed.

There was no real art to sneaking out - while Kylo could move easily on land, he didn't have the same grace or smoothness of movement as in water - not to mention his massive size. Luckily though, they were able to avoid any stirring crew members or guards as they made their way back out, but Rey gripped the bolt cutters in a tight clasp, just in case.

Finally, they were out of the claustrophobic boat and back into the open sea air. Kylo quickly hurled himself over the edge, breathing a sigh of relief as he met the water. Rey hastily ducked behind a table on deck, but the splash caught the attention of a roaming guard, who glanced in her direction then merely looked away again with a bored expression. He hadn't seen her.

Quietly, Rey climbed from the boat and back onto the dock with soft footsteps.  She looked towards the decrepit shack, catching Devi's eye, hidden in the shadows. Rey smiled softly and gave a tiny nod to the friend she never knew she had. In turn, Devi, seeing that she had gotten out safely, nodded her own farewell, and hurried away.

Making her way toward the end of the dock, as far from the FO boat as possible, Rey sat at the edge of the boardwalk, her eyes desperately searching the surface of the dark water for Kylo. If circumstance had worked against them before, it had really upped the ante now. There could be no more stolen moments at the edge of Plutt's boat as Rey went about her day, no more walking the line of indecision.

Kylo would have to flee. And she would have to make her choice.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all again for reading! And thank you as always to my beta @colliderofhadron - you're the best!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed I bumped the rating up. When I finished the first draft a month or so ago, I felt it was M. When I got around to editing this chapter, and re-read what I wrote with refreshed eyes, it seemed more like E and my beta agreed with me. There is also just the briefest half mention of not-quite-choking and a mild hint of anal play.
> 
> There are lot of perspectives on what warrants different ratings and I think this is on the milder side of E but YMMV.

_"Though I have waited long,_

_and they have all been wrong_

_Now I find in the end,_

_with him I need not pretend"_

_\- Chariots Rise by Lizzie West_

_~*~_

 

 

 The following morning came much too soon for Rey.

She’d grown used to the daily greeting from her soulmate and, without it, the sky seemed even dimmer than usual. Devi met her at the docks with a gentle pat to the shoulder and concern in her eyes.

"How are you doing?" she asked, in a tone suggesting she wasn't merely making small talk, that really wanted to know.

Rey shrugged, unsure how to answer. How _was_ she doing? Adrift again after having found her anchor? It was much harder now she knew what she was missing.

"He has to lay low for a while," Rey finally answered. She and Devi both turned to stare at the tiny red dot on the horizon; as they'd both predicted, First Order Industries wasn't just going to shrug off their loss, and its yacht was still out on the water searching - fruitlessly, Rey hoped - to retrieve its lost ’ _specimen’_.

She didn't tell Devi all that had happened on the yacht, holding the intimate moment close but, as she recalled the events of the previous night, she absentmindedly rubbed her arm through the layers of her shirt and jacket. After freeing Kylo, she'd only been sitting on the dock for a few moments before an eruption of light and sound made her jump in fright. Guards had run up from below deck in a thunderous clatter of shoes, flipping on every light aboard the red yacht.

Rey had quietly slipped into the water below the dock, clinging as best she could to a wooden post covered in algae as she flinched at the bright shards of light slicing through the slits between the boardwalk overhead.

"He’s going to kill us," one guard had moaned from above. Rey watched as they had all seemed more concerned about angering their boss than the welfare of the guard whose shoulder she'd broken.

She'd nearly yelped when something reached out of the water and covered her mouth, but it had only been Kylo's hand, keeping her quiet as he poked his head out of the water.

"Kylo!" she'd frantically whispered. "What are you doing here? You have to hide!" Her eyes had darted up towards the footsteps now thudding across the planks above her head. Her throat had threatened to close up in her panic, but she forced the words out anyway. "You have to _leave_."

"I know. I couldn't go without saying goodbye," he'd murmured, "and making sure you were safe. You need to get away from the dock."

"I'll be OK," Rey had managed. "I'll swim over to the shore, stay out of sight."

"I'll take you."

"No, I'm fine." She would _have_ to be. She couldn't let him risk it.  "You can't be seen again."

Kylo had looked unsure, but the steeliness in her eyes must have convinced him; he’d nodded.

"But it's not forever. I'll be back for you, Mate, I promise." His voice, though quiet, was laced with fire, almost overwhelming in its intensity. " _Soon_." He had then pressed a quick, hard kiss to her mark, and was gone.

As Rey’s empty day progressed, Devi thankfully gave her space. Rey managed to join Devi and Strunk as she ate lunch but felt more like a third wheel than ever before as she silently lost herself in thought while the other two chatted closely. The rational part of her mind told her that this situation was always going to happen - Kylo lived in the sea, and she on land. There could be no happy ending for them. What could she have ever hoped for, aside from snatching a moment here and there? She was always doomed to return to reality.

But she had gotten a taste of love, and part of her insisted there _must_ be a way, must be a place for them to be together. It might be imperfect but the alternative, a lifetime of loneliness, was too high a price to pay for the sake of practicality.

And with that realization, Rey knew her decision was made. Maybe she had made it the first time Kylo had tenderly stroked her mark, whispering to her with reverence. Maybe she had made her choice when she had brazenly crawled onto the First Order yacht to free him.

Either way, she now had a plan. When she went home that night, she packed a bag - nothing grand, just a backpack with only the bare necessities. A lifetime of being shuffled from one foster care home to the next had taught her the importance of packing light and how to let go of things. She might not know what exactly the future held, but she knew she was ready to chase it.

The next time Kylo showed up, he wouldn't be leaving without her.

 

* * *

 

Once Rey had made her mind up, she was antsy to make her move. However, without knowing where Kylo was hiding - he could be _anywhere_ in the ocean - she had to remain where she was, where he'd know to find her. She wasn't exactly as _happy_ as she'd been in the weeks she’d spent getting to know him, but her eagerness and anticipation carried her through the days.

Thankfully, though, only a little more than a week passed before Kylo returned. It was the end of the day when he breached the waves, just as Rey was lifting the traps for the final time. Thinking she might have seen something, she squinted into the late afternoon sunlight as it sank low into the sky, reflecting brightly off the water’s surface and making it difficult to see anything without being blinded. But there was no mistaking the low voice calling her name.

She hoped he would not climb the side of boat - aside from the FO yacht patrolling the water, various self-proclaimed ‘monster hunters’ and cryptid enthusiasts had filled the bay with day rental boats in search of the _sea_ _monster_ they'd heard so much about. Far from interest dying down, the numbers of onlookers had only grown.

Thankfully, Kylo kept himself mostly underwater, with only his head peeking out among the waves.

"Kylo!" Rey worked to keep her voice low, in spite of her excitement - and her trepidation as her eyes darted around frantically. "Are you sure it’s safe to be here? There are more people looking for you than ever!"

"I know," he nodded. "I was going to stay away until things calmed down but that doesn't seem to be happening, and I couldn't wait any longer to see you."

Rey inhaled sharply, biting back the tears that pricked the backs of her eyes. She was still so unused to someone _wanting_ to be as near her as she wanted to be to them. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, by any stretch, but was still something that she struggled to wrap her mind around.

"I know what you mean," she whispered. "And I'm ready."

"Ready?" his voice held a hopeful question.

Rey nodded. "Ready to go with you…wherever."

"Right now?"

"Right now," she confirmed. "I probably can't swim as far as you can, but hopefully we can get far enough away without being seen before I get too tired."

Kylo shook his head. "I'll carry you," he offered, and she knew he wasn't just referring to swimming.

"Give me just a minute," Rey whispered. She smiled to herself and hurried to fetch her bag - she wasn't _quite_ sure just how watertight the ziplock baggies she'd used were – she’d bagged her electronics and a few notebooks and photos last night, but they were all about to be put to the test. If they failed…well that was a sacrifice she'd live with.

Her chest was a little tighter than she expected when she offered Devi a quick goodbye and a promise to reach out later, but she had meant what she said when she’d told Kylo she was ready - ready to try to see this though, whatever it was. She spared only the slightest glance in Plutt's direction, to confirm he wasn't looking towards her before she made her way over the side of the boat and into Kylo's arms.

 

* * *

 

As much as Rey enjoyed holding on to Kylo, feeling his muscles flex between her legs and arms while she clung to his back like some sort of koala, she quickly grew cold as the cool water washed over her body and the already faint warmth the rays of the afternoon sun offered faded with nightfall. Although they were traveling south, the ocean was still chilly and before long, Rey's teeth were chattering.

Finally, Kylo brought her to the shore of a small island; by the light of the full moon, she could just barely see the length of the mainland coastline far to their east. Although whether it was Oregon or California, she couldn’t tell as she was unsure how much distance they'd covered.

She was perched on a rare patch of even, white sand, washed smooth by the easy ebb and flow of the tide; most of the already small beach was rough, surrounded on every side by jagged rocks, jutting upwards. It didn’t seem like a terribly appealing spot for a picnic or other touristy type activity, which, Rey supposed, was why Kylo chose here to rest.

Shivering as she sat on the beach, Rey dug through her pack, pleased to discover the plastic seemed to hold up, as her phone flashed a low battery light at her. But, while she had protected the things that absolutely _couldn't_ get wet, she hadn't had the foresight to give her spare clothes the same treatment - there wasn’t one dry item of clothing to be found. She cursed herself for stowing her two-piece swimsuit in the bag without thinking of buying a full-body surf suit or something.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"Keep moving for a couple days. Keep a low profile, I guess'" Kylo said. He reached out towards her from the shallows as gentle waves washed over his body. "But we'll worry about that later. You're cold," he said, concern evident in his voice. He lifted himself out of the water and scooted over to rest closer to her.

"I thought I came prepared," Rey said. "But I guess I wasn't thinking _completely_ clearly." She looked out the east; it was still several hours until dawn, but eventually sunrise would arrive and she could lay out her clothes to dry then.

Kylo ran his hands up and down her arms, the friction and his own body heat warming the area; the sensation nudged at an idea blossoming in the back of her mind.

She tentatively reached out for her favorite tentacle, gently drawing her finger along it. "I can think of a way to stay warm until the sun is up," she said quietly, trying to keep her voice from shaking with nerves. She had no clue _how_ this would work; only that she wanted it to. "Sharing body heat is survivalist training 101."

"Oh, is it?" Kylo's voice held a smirk, "and how do you propose we go about that?" Even as he pretended to be oblivious with his words, his hands traveled from Rey's arms to her torso, running up and down her side, brushing the underside of her breasts with only the slightest sweep of his thumbs, eliciting a breathy gasp from Rey.

"It seems you're already on the right track." Rey had intended to make the comment sound coy, maybe playful. Instead, it came out as a whimper when Kylo swept a thumb across one nipple as his hands made their next pass.

Kylo smiled at her reaction then took her chin in one hand, tilting her face to meet his gaze.

His eyes grew serious.

"And you're sure about this?" he asked softly.

Rey closed the distance between them and brushed her lips against his. "I'm not hiding anymore," she whispered against his skin. "Besides, I've left everything I have behind. How can I make it any clearer how sure I am?"

It was enough for Kylo. He growled, coiling several tentacles around Rey, and kissing her with a ferocity he hadn't shown in their gentle interactions before. She felt restrained, but not trapped. Never trapped. Rather _kept._ Like he’d never let her go.

No longer stealing moments between her tasks on the boat, no longer fearing discovery, unencumbered by the distance or boat rails or anything but the light, damp material of Rey's clothing between them, Rey and Kylo leaned into each other,  finally free to indulge the passion that had been building between them.

"What changed your mind?" Kylo asked, tugging Rey on top of him so she wouldn't have to lie in the wet sand. She straddled him, where the soft human skin of his torso gave way to the cool, rubbery flesh of his tentacles. “What made you come?”

"The thought that I'd never see you again. That they could have taken away what's _mine_." Rey ran her hand roughly through Kylo's hair, fingernails scraping against his scalp. "I couldn't allow that."

He shuddered under her possessive touch, at her tone. His eyes darkened just as they had when she’d first kissed their soulmark.

"Say it again," Kylo growled darkly.

"You're _mine_ ," Rey said again, before capturing his mouth with hers, nipping at his bottom lip.

"Mine," Kylo returned in a low rumble, stoking the fire burning low in her belly. He grabbed her arm, kissing each golden circle of her mark, mirroring her actions upon rescuing him.

"Kylo." Her voice was needy, breathless. Shifting her weight, he lifted her and nudged a tentacle between them, against her core, and she gasped, rocking against it. He bit down on the soft flesh of the underside of her wrist, the impression of his teeth further adorning the soulmark.

The tentacle beneath her was...different from the others. Several inches from the end, the suckers seemed to come to an end, giving way to a slightly smoother surface, with a row of little ridges along the underside.

"Kylo, is that...?"  As she grasped the tentacle with both hands, tentatively stroking it, her pride fluttered at the guttural sound it drew forth from Kylo, and her voice died on her tongue. What was the right terminology here?

The shape reminded Rey a bit of the human men she’d been with, as did the way it swelled under her touch. But it was also distinctly _different._ And bigger. Definitely bigger, she noted with both apprehension and excitement.

But she was quick to decide that correct vocabulary didn't much matter with Kylo, as he was now thrusting into her grip and staring up at her as though she hung the stars. She wanted it - wanted _him_ \- and he wanted her. That was enough.

He tugged desperately at her clothing, making frustrated sounds as he pulled impatiently at the buttons and zippers of her cargo pants. Rey empathized - a cecaelia never had to put up with buttons and fasteners, she supposed - and peeled off her useless, wet clothes, only briefly pulling herself away from his body. She leaned down to kiss him softly, finally reveling in the complete absence of any layer, any barrier between them.

Kylo hummed under her touch. "Do you know how much I've dreamed about this?" He was _everywhere_ , hands and tentacles dragging across her body, tiny suckers pinching at her skin as if leaving their own little kisses, strong fleshy tendrils coiling around her arms and legs, her neck.  The sensation was very nearly overwhelming, in the best possible way. And he'd barely even grazed where she _really_ wanted him.

How many nights had Rey spent wondering about this? How many times had she pictured that golden-tipped tentacle when she'd touched herself, when she was alone...always so alone?

"I think I have some idea how much," she murmured honestly. She resumed her leisurely stroking of the end of that _particular_ tentacle with one hand. As she curiously ran her fingertips over the crests on the underside, precum – or, she assumed, something near to it - leaked from the grooves between them.

 _That’s_ _different_ , she thought, flushing as she wondered what it would feel like when he was inside her. Kylo seemed to enjoy her exploration, though.

 _"Rey,"_ he grunted, his eyes fluttering closed and his breath coming in shallow pants. The tentacle in her hand twitched and strained in her grasp, as if seeking more pressure. He'd be inside her soon enough, but first, she wanted a different indulgence.

With her free hand, she reached for the tentacle that was curled around her waist, and its golden mark glinted in the moonlight as she kissed one of its shimmery suckers, before pushing it downward.

"Kylo," she whispered, wetting her lips. "I want it... I want you to..."

She didn't have to say any more.

Kylo rolled them over and Rey shivered at the contrast of the cool sand against her heated skin, the cold water lapping over her toes as every inch that Kylo touched burned.

He stole a kiss, hard and demanding, drinking her in. Rey moaned, arching into his touch. When he pulled back to meet her gaze, holding her captive with his eyes, she knew, as surely as she knew herself, that this was a desire that he’d entertained again and again.

Held in place by multiple limbs, she was entirely at his mercy, but it felt right, and she trusted Kylo _completely_.

Rey writhed as he trailed the golden tentacle down across her belly, further and further until her legs parted eagerly in welcome. Her eyes fluttered closed as she sighed in contentment.

"No," Kylo demanded, grasping her chin and tugging it down just slightly. "Watch."

Rey whimpered, both in reaction to the commanding tone in his voice, as well as the feel _and_ the sight of that golden-tipped tentacle dragging across her sensitive flesh.

"Kylo," she moaned in plea, though she didn't have the words to say exactly what for. He knew exactly what, knew her body, knew _her_.

Finally, he nudged his soulmarked tentacle inside of her, and she gasped. The sensation was considerably different from anything she'd experienced before, but she knew it was something she could never live without again.

Rey managed to lift herself to her elbows to watch, greedily, possessively, as his mark, _their_ mark, disappeared inside of her, a blur of gold as he moved in and out. 

Rey looked up and met Kylo's gaze and, seeing the unspoken question there, she gave a short, desperate nod. " _Please_."

Kylo gave a particularly hard thrust and Rey's eyes teared up as she glanced down. He filled her completely; the pressure _just_ the right side of too much. Kylo stilled for a moment as he looked down where they were joined.

Rey choked out a whispered "Perfect," as she reached down to tenderly stroke Kylo where he was buried within her, marveling at their connection.

He thrust again, pushing his tentacle deeper until every bit of their soulmark was engulfed, swallowed up by her body.

 _It’s where he belongs,_ Rey thought, territorially, groaning as his tentacle tensed within her.

"This is where I belong," Kylo rumbled through gritted teeth, as if he'd heard her thoughts.

And then a tentacle he'd wrapped around one of her thighs now danced upwards, the tip just barely flicking against her skin, but she was so overstimulated that that was all it took to send her crashing over the edge. She clenched around the golden tentacle deep inside of her, babbling incoherently as waves of pleasure washed over her. Kylo caressed her throughout, raining kisses on her shivering skin.

Still panting through the aftershocks, she moaned in protest as he pulled the tentacle from her, golden suckers glistening.

"Don't worry," Kylo said with a wicked grin. "We're not done yet."

Rey barely had time to lament the emptiness before he was inside her again, burying that other, stiffer tentacle within her aching core in one swift thrust, and drawing a ragged moan from her lips.

He coiled the marked tentacle around her neck, not choking, just giving the slightest bit of pressure, its tip stroking her cheek in a gesture that was surprisingly sweet, given the fact that her own come still clung to its flesh.

He _was_ bigger than anyone she'd been with before, but she'd been well primed, already stretched and satiated by the golden tentacle, and so her body accepted him easily, willingly. After all, he _was_ meant just for her.

She turned her head towards the tentacle caressing her cheek, taking it into her mouth and delighting in the strange taste of her own arousal, blended with the saltwater taste of Kylo’s skin; it was odd, but incredibly enticing. She and him, him and her, twisted together and inseparable, and she moaned as he thrust into her mouth.

Kylo was all around her, and yet she still wanted more. Again, almost as if he knew her thoughts, Kylo indulged her, giving her what she craved. Yet another tentacle, one that had been wound tightly around her leg, inched upwards. He trailed the tip ever so softly along the crease of her backside, massaging her tenderly.

She tensed for only a moment then sighed when he nudged the tip barely inside, trusting him to take her slowly. He was gentler here, just a promise of what they'd work towards.

The sensation of Kylo all around her, inside her in every possible way was almost too much to bear, unaccustomed as she was to such avid attention. She’d been alone for so long, counting days and just getting by, waiting for a future she was sure would never come.

But no longer. He was hers and she was his. She had found her true belonging in his - many - arms. The thought overwhelmed her, pushing her to the brink, and as he nudged that spot inside her, she came apart again, shuddering and quaking in his arms.

Kylo's pace increased, becoming erratic as he growled endearments against her neck and shoulder. "Mate, Rey, mine, _Mate_."

The end of one tentacle still filling her mouth, Rey could only respond with a muffled whimper as she shivered at his touch, her every nerve ending still tingling.

And then at once, all of Kylo's limbs tensed. His grasp on her tightened, tugging her impossibly closer as he found his own release, pulsing within her and flooding her with warmth.

Without untangling his limbs, Kylo rolled onto his back, pulling Rey on top of him. She collapsed into his broad chest, panting in time with him as her soul settled back into her body. Thoroughly worn out, and most definitely not cold anymore, she whimpered just a little as Kylo withdrew his tentacles from her, but kept her wrapped tightly in his arms as he held her close.

They were a sticky, sweaty, sandy mess. Rey knew she should go rinse off in the water, but she wasn’t ready to move quite yet, wanting to revel in the contended bliss she’d found in Kylo's arms.

She had barely a possession to her name anymore, no clue where she was going to live, and was in love with a cecaelia. But the things she’d fretted about when they were first marked now seemed distant and unimportant. _Anywhere_ with Kylo nearby would be home, finally.

Rey turned a sleepy gaze towards her arm, lazily observing the gold of her soulmark glimmering under the light of the full moon.

She'd never bother to hide it again.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda sad to say goodbye to this fic, but who knows? An itsy bitsy sequel (edit: oops, I meant to say epilogue!) idea may have lurked into my mind... Thanks for coming along with me on this ride; I hope you've enjoyed it!
> 
> Thank you @colliderofhadron for all your immeasurable beta'ing help and general feedback and encouragement! <3
> 
> And thank you to AlhenaCrimson, who painted a beautiful picture of these soulmarked lovebirds, which absolutely made me melt! Check it out on [twitter](https://twitter.com/AlhenaCrimson/status/1092046192849100800) or [tumblr](http://alhenacrimson.tumblr.com/post/182563926062/for-orkindofamazing-you-octopi-my-heart-this). :)


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